5 Simple and Affordable Backpacking Meals Ideas
Planning meals for backpacking can be a chore. You want to fuel your body right since you are putting it through so much work. You also need something lightweight and easy to prepare. It can be a challenge to find ideas for backpacking meals that fit this bill.
If you’re on a budget, its even harder.
Dehydrated backpacking meals are some of the most convenient, easy, and delicious options when it comes to backpacking food. Unfortunately, they can be rather expensive, Say $8-15+ a pop. If you’re on a long trip, you’re going to be dishing out quite a bit of cash on food if you stick to premade meal packets.
That’s why we made sure these ideas for backpacking meals are also incredibly affordable.
If you’re looking for a switch-up from your typical backpacking foods, keep reading. These 5 ideas for backpacking meals are easy, affordable, and can be found in most grocery stores. They also taste good and will fuel your body right… even on those days you cover a lot of mileage.
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1. Tuna Pitas
Have you seen those individual tuna packets at the grocery store? These are great sources of protein for backpackers, and they are lightweight and cheap. They also come in a variety of flavors so you can keep your meals interesting. My personal favorite is the Hickory Smoked flavor, found here!
Pita bread is a backpacker’s sandwich secret. Unlike loaf bread, pitas are resilient to being smushed in your backpack. They’re also super affordable. Tortillas are an excellent option as well!
Make a meal out of these two by dumping a tuna packet out onto a slice of pita bread. You’ll have a delicious sandwich that costs less than three dollars to make!
2. Peanut Butter Tortilla Roll Ups
Peanut butter is a perfect healthy snack for the trail. It’s a great source of the healthy fats and proteins you need and it tastes wonderful. You also don’t need a whole lot of it to get it’s benefits. A serving is two tablespoons, which can go a long way. This is what makes it such a good idea for backpacking meals. It’s nutrient dense and it won’t take up much space.
Though a jar of peanut butter can be large and heavy, there are ways to work around this if you’re going lightweight. Tubes, single-serving cups, or transferring it into a tube yourself can help you shed a few ounces.
We love the easy, mess-free peanut butter squeeze tubes by Justin’s. You can get a ten pack here for under $20. They also come in maple almond, chocolate hazelnut, and other flavors.
While bread doesn’t travel well in a backpack, tortillas sure do! They make an excellent base for a peanut-butter sandwich. They are also cheap so they’re great for the budget backpacker.
If you want to take your wrap to the next level, try some of these additions:
- Honey
- Nuts or Seeds
- Chocolate Chips
- Dried Fruit or Fruit Leather
3. Powdered Potatoes and Pork Sung
If you’re looking for ideas for hot backpacking meals, look no further than mashed potatoes. Instant mashed potatoes are perfect if you want a hearty and comforting meal on a cool night. They’re fast and easy to make if you have a camp stove. Plus, they’re delicious. There are tons of different flavors to choose from so you can have variety with your meals.
However, potatoes alone don’t make for a complete meal. You need some form of proteins and fats to balance it out.
That’s where pork sung comes in, to give your potatoes some fat, protein, and extra flavor. Rousong is a Chinese, dried, cooked meat that has a texture like course cotton. It doesn’t need to be refrigerated and is incredibly lightweight.
You may be able to find it in the foreign foods aisle at the grocery store, but you can certainly find it online as well. (Here’s a link if you’re curious!) At around $1 a serving, rousong is far more affordable than jerky. If you’ve never given it a try, buy a small container – it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
4. Oatmeal With Nuts and Seeds
Oatmeal isn’t just for breakfast, though does make an excellent first meal of the day. Personally, I could eat oatmeal for every meal. Its versatile enough to have completely different flavors depending on what you add to it, so you don’t get bored.
Like the other meals mentioned, oats are lightweight and easy to pack into your backpack. All you need is some hot water and a bowl to prep them in, and you’ll have an excellent meal in no time.
With most oatmeal brands, you’ll likely want to add some ingredients in to make it a more balanced meal. Fortunately, you can really beef up oatmeal with some add-ons. I like to add almonds, chia seeds, cinnamon and sugar. You can also add nut butters, protein powder, dried fruits, honey, dried milk, or dark chocolate. You can be really creative with this dish!
If you want to start with a more balanced oatmeal base, try out Kodiak Cakes oatmeal. It has twice the protein as a typical oatmeal packet. Find it here!
5. Mac N Cheese Dinner
If you’re looking for a bit of nostalgia, bring along some mac n cheese. It was a staple for children and college students alike for good reason. It’s easy, affordable, and delicious! It also happens to be lightweight and easy to pack in a backpack.
A space-saving tip for mac n cheese – don’t keep it in the box it comes in. The box is bulky, and it can tear or disintegrate if it gets wet. Instead, repackage the ingredients in a plastic bag.
It’s easy to dress up macaroni to make a full dish out of it. When you’re looking for ideas for backpacking food and mac n cheese sounds good to you, check out these healthy and lightweight ingredients to mix in:
- Meat Add-Ons: Dried meats, cured sausage, or shelf-stable bacon
- Fish Add-Ons: Pouched tuna or salmon, or sardines
- Breakfast Add-Ons: Powdered eggs and hot sauce
- Vegan Add-Ons: Roasted chickpeas, seeds, dried mushrooms
Conclusion
Finding good ideas for backpacking meals can be challenging. You need something lightweight, packable, and easy to prepare at camp. It also needs to be balanced to properly fuel you as you put in miles on the trail. These 5 meals are simple, quick, lightweight, and affordable. On those trips where you don’t want to pay a premium for pre-made meals, try some of these options out!
Cover photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash
